The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Broken Ties" episode of "Stargate: Atlantis."

"Mr. Woolsey, do you have children?" -? Teyla
"No, but I had a Yorkie for many years." -- Woolsey

Ronon faces the ultimate betrayal, and Teyla must decide her future with the team.

When I first heard the preview this episode, "The unthinkable happens, when Ronon is captured," I couldn't help but roll my eyes. You mean like in "Sateda"? Now that episode rocked, but the preview made it seem like it was retreading over an old storyline. So, I didn't have high hopes for this episode. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.

Ronon and Teyla are ambushed by Tyre (Mark Dacascos), a former Satedan ally of Ronon who (in "Reunion") was revealed to be a Wraith worshipper. Tyre takes Ronon to Sarif Sur, a no longer inhabited world. There he turns him over to the Wraith, hoping to win favor and get his Wraith enzyme fix. But ... not so much.

The Wraith discards Tyre and takes Ronon for a little brainwashing. The team finds Tyre and has him go cold turkey until he gets the drug out of his system. Meanwhile, a parallel is happening with Ronon as he is practically overdosed until he submits.

The former addict Tyre wants to make things right and leads the team on a rescue mission. The team is captured, then rescued, and following a sword fight with evil Ronon -- not to mention a big explosion -- the team succeeds in rescuing their brainwashed friend.

After a long and agonizing withdrawal, Ronon finally recovers. Sheppard tells him about what Tyre did and gives him Tyre's sword. Ronon finally realizes what his friend had to endure and mourns his lost.

What Worked

Overall, this episode was pretty good. It focused primarily on Ronon and secondly on Teyla.

I'm glad they haven't just thrown out the baby story line. All too often writers get rid of the baby by making them grow up into evil adult version overnight ("Stargate SG1", "Angel") or have some reason why the baby has to go away ("The X-Files"). So far, "Stargate: Atlantis" hasn't taken one of those easy options out. Heck, they even kept Kanaan around, but I would be surprised if they don't kill him off for added drama. Because ... well, that is just what tends to happen in genre shows.

There was some great back and forth as Teyla tries to decide to join the team or not. Nice character development.

Ronon's part of the story was great. We are used to seeing Ronon never giving up, never losing. But, you can only fight biochemistry so much, and this time Ronon did give in to the Wraith enzyme. This shows us why Wraith worshippers exist, and how his former allies could become Wraith worshippers. I'm also guessing that some viewers expected Ronon to betray the Wraith revealing that he was just playing along. However, that would have been a little too clich?, and I'm glad the writers didn't go that direction.

Loved the Woolsey moments! He is really growing on me, but I still want to see some episodes where Woolsey doesn't agree with the team in order to create a little more tension. But, with that said, Woolsey is filling in the leadership role well.

This episode showed a bunch of personality quirks that help make his character feel unique compared to Weir or Carter. Plus, they were darn funny: the discussion about his divorce and his dog, him holding Teyla's baby, the door not opening for him, or how he likes to relax wearing a suit. He is an interesting character played by a talented actor and honestly his character fits in better with the overall cast dynamics.

Nothing against Carter, but I would rather see her doing her "SG-1" thing.

There wasn't too much Rodney this time around, but I did find the bathtub bit to be really funny, especially when they revisited it in the final montage near the end of the episode.

The strongest part of the whole episode was seeing Ronon in withdrawal. It was a powerful montage and really showcased the actor's talent.

What Didn?t Work

I was a little sorry to see Tyre die. Dacascos ("Brotherhood of the Wolf" and "The Middleman") is a talented actor and martial artist, and I wouldn't have minded seeing him become a recurring character. I would like to have seen him showcase his martial art skills a little more in this episode.

Tyre saving the team and sacrificing was a little too easy to see coming. I would have liked a little twist or complication.

This episode does remind me slightly of a past "SG-1" episode where Teal'c was brainwashed. Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder not to compare various episodes to previous ones, but I think we should remember that we are quickly approaching the 300th episode in the Stargate universe.

At this point, it is nearly impossible to not have a story that can be nitpicked as familiar with something in the past. But the "Atlantis" cast has a very different dynamic from the "SG-1" cast. Neither is better than the other, but both are different and help move stories in different directions.

Overall, it was a good episode that surprised. No, it wasn't mind-blowingly awesome, and wrapping up loose ends from "Reunion" wasn't high on my list, but it was well executed. It also helped to add a little more info about how the Wraith operate and gave a little more character development for Ronon, Teyla and Woolsey.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Broken Ties" was written by Paul Mullie & Joseph Mallozzi and directed by Ken Girotti. "Stargate: Atlantis" airs Friday nights at 10 p.m. on the SciFi Channel. The show stars Joe Flanigan, David Hewlett, Rachel Luttrell, Jason Momoa, Jewel Staite, and Robert Picardo.

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